Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(WHEELING, W.Va.) -- In a twist of irony, a West Virginia woman is trying to collect money from a collection agency. Diana Mey, of Wheeling, W. Va., won the largest judgment ever against an abusive debt collection company -- more than $10 million.

"I'm a mom, and I'm a housewife, and I'm an accidental activist," Mey said.

From her small-town home base in Wheeling, Mey went after a debt collection empire that hounds people nationwide and won. But she still hasn't received any money: "I don't know that I'll ever collect a dime, but if I can get their operation shut down, that would make me very happy."

Two years ago, a debt collector with a company called Reliant Financial Associates, or RFA, left a message implying that her house was in jeopardy if she didn't pay a debt. The message stated:

"I'm calling in regards to a preliminary asset liability investigation. They are in the process of serving some court documents in regards to case 29369... They have some information now pending questions at the property, ... Springdale Avenue, in Wheeling, West Virginia. It is in your best interests to contact the department. You are required to contact 866-764-9779."

It is illegal for debt collectors to make empty threats about serving people with a lawsuit or seizing their home. And it was especially galling to Mey, who says she is debt-free.

"They threatened to take legal action against our property and it wasn't even our debt," Mey said.

Millions of Americans are victims of this kind of mistaken debtor identity, partly because of a new breed of collectors called "debt buyers." They purchase old debts for pennies that the original creditors have given up on and then try to collect them for a big profit. Critics say debt buyers sometimes use outrageous tactics to get the money where others have failed. RFA is a debt buyer.

But Diana Mey has battled big companies over intrusive phone calls before. In 1999, she won a class-action lawsuit against a major telemarketer whose salesmen kept calling people, even when asked to stop. People magazine named her one of the "Most Intriguing People of the Year." That's why Mey has recorded her phone calls ever since.

Mey says it took her a year to find attorneys who would sue on her behalf. Wheeling lawyers Martin Sheehan and Patrick Cassidy took the case knowing they would probably never get paid.

"Yes, I like to make money, " Sheehan said, "but at some level there's something so atrocious you have to let people come into your office and say -- that's wrong and I'm going to do something about it."

Last May, Mey sued RFA for harassment and illegal collection practices. In August, RFA's lawyer failed to show up in court, so Mey testified unopposed. The judge called RFA's actions "malicious" and ruled that all of the allegations were true. And then he awarded that record judgment of $10,860,000.

When Nightline went to RFA's Orange County, Calif., office to ask about the case, it was abandoned. RFA is actually a fictitious business name for a company called Global AG, LLC. Records show it is just one of several collection companies run by the same people that often change names and move. Nightline also visited other offices registered to people named in Mey's suit, but employees refused to talk and asked the production crew to leave.

RFA's lawyer later told Nightline that RFA made the first collection call to Mey, but denies making a second, obscene call. He said he was speaking on behalf of company principals Thai Han, Jim Phelps and Stewart Phillips.

"My clients say it is not their policy to engage in conduct that violates the law," he said. He characterized the $10 million judgment as "unfair."

As for Diana Mey, she says she knows she may never be able to collect the money, but that her lawsuit still serves a purpose.

"I hope that it sends a message to other debt collectors out there that you have to follow the law," she said. "Because if you don't, there are going to be people out there that are going to stand up against you."